Research Activities
While my research has been largely based on analysis of observations
obtained in close collaboration with colleagues all over the world,
I have also worked fairly closely with ocean, atmosphere, and
coupled climate modelers. My involvement with the Tropical Oceans/Global
Atmosphere (TOGA) research program for the past decade has included
making observations during numerous oceanographic research expeditions,
planning process studies such as the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere
Response Experiment (COARE), and working with colleagues on the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) TOGA Advisory Panel to help
shape the overall TOGA program in its evolution. Substantial new
datasets were acquired during
TOGA/COARE, which offer exciting
new opportunities to understand the processes which couple the
atmosphere and ocean on a broad range of time and space scales.
These new observations are being analyzed in conjunction with
a variety of ocean and atmosphere models, with the aim of ultimately
improving the model parameterizations of the impact on large time
and space scales by processes which occur on short time and space
scales.
In 1987, David Karl and I organized the Hawaii Ocean Time-series
(HOT) program with funding by the National Science Foundation under the World Ocean Circulation Experiment
(WOCE) and JGOFS
programs. The time series of physical, chemical and biological
measurements of the water column in the deep ocean north of Hawaii
is now more than 18 years long. Recent analyses of the hydrography have been
concentrating on seasonal and interannual variations throughout
the water column, including evidence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation
signatures in the deep ocean temperatures. These observations
clearly illustrate that the detection of climate change in the
ocean will require sufficient understanding and modeling of the
interannual (and decadal) natural variability in order to remove
the large "noise" which may well mask the anthropogenic
changes. Also, the analysis of the WOCE hydrographic survey of
the World Ocean will have to consider these signals in order to
approach a "snapshot" baseline.
During 1992, the approaching end of the TOGA program at the end
of 1994 led me to work with numerous colleagues to articulate
the scientific rationale for the Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land
System (GOALS) for Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Program.
As a member of the NAS Advisory Panel for this program, I am leading
the scientific and implementation planning for the Austral-Asian
Monsoon component of GOALS, in close collaboration with the World
Climate Research Programme's new CLIVAR program. These planning
activities, combined with my participation on the NOAA Advisory
Panel for the Climate and Global Change Program have provided
me with an understanding of the numerous and complex issues involves
with climate system modeling, and the need for critical observational
efforts to support that research. Thus, in addition to the climate-related
personal research, I have developed a substantial background and
a knowledge of the state-of-the-art in climate variability and
change issues, especially the interdisciplinary aspects. This
is reflected in some of my course offerings.